


gemar chatimah tovah

by cinderlily



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Arizona Coyotes | Phoenix Coyotes, Fasting, Gen, Judaism, Yom Kippur | Atonement Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 10:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12231375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderlily/pseuds/cinderlily
Summary: Jason is staring down the clock to when he can break the fast and making new friends in the process.





	gemar chatimah tovah

**Author's Note:**

> Can I just tell you how FREAKING EXCITED I am for a Jewish player on MY TEAM? It's like my dream. We don't have much of a presence in the Sports world and it's awesome to show my kids what the world has. 
> 
> Also, thanks to Everbright for giving me the idea. :)

Jason stared at the clock, eyes firmly placed on the minute hand. He had, from what he could see, five minutes. He could totally make five minutes. Even if he’d already loaded his plate, even if he’d already had the plate in front of him. He made himself breath through his mouth, which was still watering even without the scent in his nose. 

The fact that he had shifted the schedule due to the fact that he had a game that night was something that usually left him feeling guilty but he had stopped eating twenty-four hours before and it was close to sundown somewhere. He had a game that night and the last thing he needed was to black out due to hunger or throw up from eating too late in the day after an empty stomach. 

“Yo, Demers,” Max called out from a few seats down. “You okay?” 

He looked away from the clock ( _two minutes_ ). “Yeah, yeah. Why?” 

“You’re staring at the clock like it boarded you and your kind of pale and sweaty,” Jordy jumped in from across from him. 

He was still new, so the whole explaining everything about himself was kind of not fucking fun. Not that it was that big of a deal but he could count on his two hands the Jews in the league and it had always gotten him a mixed bag of reactions. Sometimes the more religious dudes, which there were a lot of, took to him as a pet project which was his least favorite reaction. Others looked at him like he was sort of crazy. 

Which he got. A lot of players used exercise and exertion as an excuse and he didn’t fault him for it. It was just, as a kid, he kind of had a thing for Sandy Kofax and his awesomeness, so even though he wasn’t going to services today, he couldn’t give himself space to _not_ fast. It just felt like he was cheating or something. He felt for those who played through Ramadan as forty days of playing through this would be his own personal version of hell. 

“Uh, just… fasting,” he said and looked up at the clock. It was less than thirty seconds. He _really_ wanted to say ‘fuck it’ but his Bubbe had guilt rays, he swore so he went back to watching the clock pass the last thirty seconds. 

He didn’t have to look up to know that people were looking at him. He brushed it off and hoped no one would actually say anything so he didn’t have to answer but it didn’t entirely matter because it was coming up. He watched the second hand hit that last little bit and the world seemed to slow down just that last little bit.

 _Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one._

He had never thought that chicken enchiladas could taste that fucking amazing but the first bite was like freaking heaven. It was like every stupid year he forgot how horrible the fast could be. When he played in the minors it was usually up north where days were shorter and he could cheat. Arizona days seemed to be interminable. 

When he’d finished off his first enchilada he looked up to catch Jordy looking at him with a weird tilt to his head. 

“You know it’s not sundown, right?” 

That wasn’t the question he’d actually been expecting. He swallowed with a large gulp of water and nodded. “Um, I shifted it last night. Stopped eating at four thirty so that I could eat at a proper time today in case of like… playing.” 

“Huh, is that like… legal?” 

Jason let out a laugh that he couldn’t stop himself from. He looked down at his plate and covered his mouth with his fist. “Uh. Yeah. I don’t think if the laws of the Torah are legally binding or else there are a lot of lawbreakers in this room.” 

“You’re Jewish?” Max chimed in. “That’s awesome. You know Chayka is, right? Like. He’s full-blown Jewish…” 

“As opposed to those Demi-Jews?” Jason lifted an eyebrow, trying for serious but couldn’t keep his face straight. “Whose knee caps believe in Jesus?” 

Duke rolled his eyes. “Max has his skills, mouth filter is not one of them. Practicing Jew. He is a practicing Jew.” 

“That makes two of us,” Jason said. “I just. You know. Still growing as I learn.” 

Max shook his head. “Yeah. My mom tried to go Sunday service Christian. It lasted about two months.” 

“Shane went when he could,” Jordy said. “I went with him once. Cause like, I just wanted to see what his church was like. A little too much of the Christianity.” 

Jason nodded, taking a big bite of rice. “Churches have that tendency. Synagogues are pretty Jewish.” 

“You should go to Chayka’s Synagogue. I’m sure it’s fancy as fuck,” Max hummed. 

Jason’s eyebrows went up. Naw, he was good with finding one of his own if he needed it. He didn’t want to worry about looking bad at services in front of his freaking boss. Cause like, he followed the rules but he wasn’t much of a service goer. 

He went back to eating, thankful that the food was there and still warm. He finished his plate and went to go get another, coming back and tucking in with the same fervor he gave the first plate. They’d had a practice that morning. His body was messed up. 

Jordy had been looking at his phone for a long minute and the only reason he noticed was that he kept looking up at him. He swallowed a bit of food and took a swig of water. 

“Got something on my face?” he rubbed but didn’t feel anything. 

His face looked very focused. “Shana Tovah?” 

And even though he messed up the first word pretty hard (technically he said Pretty Good, but whatever) Jason beamed at him. “Yeah, it’ll be a pretty good year. Thanks.”

**Author's Note:**

> "gemar chatimah tovah"= A good final sealing  
> "shana tova"= good year (pronounced "Shah-nah. Jordie said 'Shayna' which means pretty.)


End file.
